By Tony Nobbs
21.07 - Rod Waterhouse, trainer of OPBF Light Heavyweight Champion Paul "Hurricane" Briggs (16-1,13 ko) announced yesterday that his charge has signed to fight former World Title Challenger Glenn "Kunga" Kelly (28-1-1,15 ko)at the Horden Pavilion in Sydney on September 18. "Finally Mr Kelly has come to the table. He was number one in the world only six months ago and this is a fight we have been chasing for over two years. Paul is raring to go".
There has been much talk about Briggs and Kelly getting together in recent months with increasing bad blood between the fighters and the fight will be shown on a Wednesday night on Pay Per View on the Main Event Channel across Australia. Promoter isMario Maiolo. "Glenn is saying he hates me like he has never hated anyone before. I just hope he brings a bit more fight than he did against Roy Jones because he is going to need it against someone who will be meaning to really hit him". Said the WBC rated #15 Briggs after an early morning training session at Waterhouse's gym on the Gold Coast.
"Kelly is number 12 in the WBC and after this fight Paulie will fight a South American for the WBC International Title. Paul's OPBF Title will be on the line this fight We are just looking forward to getting in the top 10 and mixing it up with some of these guys who think they can fight. The Horden Pavilion is near where Kelly grew up. He's got nine weeks to prepare, same as we have.I just hope Glenn trains hard because if he don't he might as well not bother showing up" said Waterhouse, a veteran of the Australian fight scene. Briggs, 26, was last in action in June, stopping Seiaute Mailata in four rounds in a mandatory OPBF Title defence on the Gold Coast. Kelly was heavily criticised for his effort in being outclassed against Jones in Feburary and is now training with former assistant Dino Billinghurst after leaving Jeff Fenech who prepared him for the Jones fight. Billinghurst helped with Kelly's previous trainer George Reno, who steered Kelly's older brother Kevin to a WBA Title shot with Super Welterweight Champ David Reid in 1999. Kevin scored a knockdown in that fight and could consider himself unfortunate not to walk out with the belt. For a while there was talk that Glenn was going to be a better boxer than his brother. Kelly has also been talking up a fight recently with fellow Aboriginal Anthony Mundine and has indicated heis back to the style of boxing that got him to the top of the world ratings. Undoubtedly he will not want to be remembered for the Jones debacle.
Briggs said he was encouraged after watching yesterday's Tarver-Harding fight underneath Forrest-Mosley in Indianapolis "Really, I sat there thinking, man, if only I can get at these guys. I can't believe the standard. They are supposed to be the best in the world. This fight is a stepping stone to bigger things. I'm going to train my guts out, I'm buggered after this morning's session, I hate to see what Rod has got for me later on in training. But this is a very important fight and we are professionals. This is a fight I think the whole country wants to see. Glenn has been doing a lot of talking but talk is cheap.It's awesome. He said he'd fight me on August 9 up here but stalled for money, this time it is Pay Per View it has worked out good. It is a chance for him to redeem himself after Jones but I'm not going to sit back and let him just cover up. I'm going to smash him".
